A question in a history paper of Tamil Nadu’s Periyar University that asked students to identify a “lower caste” in the state has been criticised by the Opposition, The News Minute reported on Friday.
The question was part of the second semester examination for students pursuing an Masters of Arts degree. In the 75-mark test, there were 15 multiple choice questions under the topic, “freedom movement in Tamil Nadu from 1880 CE to 1947 CE”.
Questions like “when was East India Company found in India”, “who introduced the Ryotwari system”, “which education system is called Magna-Carta”, among others were included in the examination.
However, one of the multiple choice questions asked: “Which one is the lower caste [that] belongs to Tamil Nadu?”
The options listed were Mahars, Nadars, Ezhavas and Harijans.
The leader of Opposition Edappadi K Palaniswami tweeted, accusing the Salem-based university of denigrating social activist Periyar’s principles. Periyar had fought for the eradication of caste in Tamil Nadu.
Attaching a copy of the paper, Palaniswami asked if promoting inequality among students through questions like these was the ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam government’s Dravidian model and social justice.
The state higher education department said it will set up a committee to investigate the matter, reported The News Minute.
“Several media reports have criticised the question papers of postgraduate exams for History conducted in Periyar University, Salem, as it had caste-related questions,” a statement from the principal secretary of the higher education department said. “A committee will be formed at the level of Higher Education Department officials and proper investigation will be conducted.”
Meanwhile, the Periyar University will also constitute a committee to look into the incident, The Indian Express reported.
“When we enquired, the teachers who prepared this question said that it is part of the syllabus,” D Gopi, the university’s registrar, said. “This could have been avoided.”
Gopi said that the questions were prepared by staff members from another college.
“Based on the orders of the vice chancellor, a committee would be formed comprising history teaching staff,” Gopi said. “Departmental action would be initiated against the staff members based on the recommendation of the committee.”
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